Heroes of Graxia
Heroes of Graxia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
Heroes of Graxia is a deck building card game in which 2-6 players compete by purchasing Equipment, Spells, and Units in preparation to slay Monsters and other Heroes for fame and glory.
CARDS
The card diagram is labelled: Starting Deck Banner, Cost, Sell Value, Health, Specials, Defense Value, Attack Value, Trophy Value, and Deck Type Symbol. The Deck Type Symbols are the Unit Deck, Monster Deck, Spell Deck, and Equipment Deck.
Card Name: The name of the card.
Starting Deck Banner: Cards with this icon are placed in the Start Decks as needed, according to the number of players.
Cost: The cost in Gold to purchase the card.
Classification - Type - Race: Each card falls into five Classifications: Equipment, Spells, Units, Heroes, and Monsters. Some Classifications have Types. If a card belongs to a race, it is listed here.
Sell Value: The value in Gold of the card when discarded to redeem its value in Gold to purchase cards or to heal wounds.
Health: The health value of a Unit, which is eliminated when this value is reduced to zero.
Defense Value: The defense value of the card. Wounds do not modify this value.
Attack Value: The attack value of the card. Wounds do not modify this value.
Trophy Value: Used to determine when the game ends and counts as Victory Points.
Specials: Additional rules introduced by the cards. They always supersede normal rules. These rules are immediately active when the card is placed.
HERO CARDS
There are six Heroes Cards in the game; Shadd, Flist, Broxin, Oshnuk, Draknal, and Sype. Each Player has one Hero, which is selected at the start of the game and placed as the first member of his Legion in front of him. If at the beginning of his turn a player has no Hero due to it having been previously eliminated, he puts his current hand and Player Deck into the Discard Pile. He chooses one third of the cards (rounded up) in his Discard Pile as his new hand, which must include his Hero card. The number of cards selected is the number of actions he may use for this turn only. The Player must place his Hero in the Legion as a free action on this turn.
UNIT CARDS
There are three Unit types: Mercenaries, Armies, and Henchmen. Armies and Henchmen are placed in the Player's Legion in front of him by using one action. They remain in the Legion until eliminated. Mercenaries are only played in combat and they remain until the end of combat (at which time they are placed in the Player's Discard Pile and may not have wounds distributed to them). There is no limit to the number of Units in your Legion, however there may only be one Henchman.
EQUIPMENT CARDS
Players use Equipment Cards to attach to Units and Heroes in their Legion. There are three types of Equipment Cards: Auras, Armor, and Weapons. Only one card of each type can be attached to each unit at a time (a unit may have 3 attached cards). Mercenaries can never have Equipment attached to them. When eliminated, a Unit with all its attached Equipment is placed in the Player's Discard Pile. Equipment adds to the total Defense and/or Attack value of the Legion not a card's listed Attack or Defense values to which it is attached. Spell and Equipment Cards that modify (i.e. double) a listed Attack or Defense value do not modify attached Equipment or other bonuses.
MONSTER CARDS
Players may attack one of the available Monsters for an action during their turn. If they eliminate the Monster, the Player receives the reward written on the Monster Card and then places the card into their Loot Pile. Any Gold given to purchase cards may not be added to other Gold the Player has to complete those purchases. If the Monster is not eliminated, it will be removed and placed at the bottom of the Monster Deck with another Monster Card from the deck immediately replacing it.
SPELL CARDS
Spell cards may be either played in combat or outside of combat. When played outside of combat, the card will cost one action. This is not considered an "attack" in any way. Each Unit in combat is allowed to cast one Spell, without paying actions.
WOUND CARDS
When Units are assigned wounds, Wound Cards are placed behind them. When the total value of the Wound Cards equals the Health of a Unit, it is eliminated and placed in the Player's Discard Pile. A Unit's current Health has no affect on its Attack or Defense values.
PRESTIGE POINT CARDS
As Players defeat Units and Heroes of opposing Legions, they gain Prestige by taking the appropriate Prestige Point cards and placing them in their Loot Pile. These points are tallied the end of the game to determine the winner. Player's may examine the Loot Pile of each other at any time.
MINIATURES
The six Hero miniatures are placed by the Hero card of each Player, or alternatively placed on top of their Loot Pile.
SET UP
The set-up diagram is labelled: Spell Deck, Unit Deck, Equipment Deck, Monster Deck, Purchasable Cards, Monsters that may be attacked, Hero Card, Legion Area, Unit Card, Equipment Card, Player 1 Discard Pile, Player 1 Loot Pile, Player 1 Deck, Wounds Deck, and VP Deck. The diagram shows Player 1 through Player 4 seated around the table.
Step One: Each Player compiles his starting Player Deck of 12 cards (denoted with the Banner icon) from the game supply of cards. This initial Player Deck is the same for each Player and is shuffled and placed in front of him.
Each Player's Starting Deck:
- (1) Wulffin's Raiders
- (1) Gorthox Shieldbreaker
- (1) Alesana
- (1) Staff of Dark Mending
- (1) Bone Sword
- (1) Armor of the Forest
- (1) Aura of Balance
- (1) Aura of Riches
- (1) Fervent
- (1) Innervate
- (1) Chain Lightning
- (1) Double Strike
Step Two: Compile and shuffle the following decks from the remaining cards according to their Card Classification; Equipment Deck, Unit Deck (remove any remaining Alesana Henchmen cards), and Spell Deck; and then place them down in a vertical row in the middle of the table. The Wound and Victory Point cards are placed to the side. Compile the Monster Deck by randomly placing a number of Monster Cards in it as follows:
- 2 Player Game: 10 Monster Cards
- 3-4 Player Game: 15 Monster Cards
- 5-6 Player Game: 20 Monster Cards
Step Three: Draw four cards each from the Equipment, Unit, Spell, and Monster Decks, placing them face-up in a horizontal row next to their appropriate deck.
Step Four: Randomly or mutually, Players select their Hero Unit with its corresponding miniature and place them in front of them as the first Unit in their Legion.
Step Five: Each Player draws five cards from their Player Deck to form their initial Hand. If after drawing his cards, the Player is not satisfied with his new Hand, he may discard those cards and draw another four cards instead. If still not satisfied he may discard and draw three new cards, which he must keep.
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
Randomly or mutually choose a first Player and then going clockwise, each Player takes his turn. During his turn, a Player may perform any of the actions below in any order he wishes. A Player may only spend up to two actions per turn. When the Player is done performing actions, he ends his turn by discarding any remaining cards into his Discard Pile and drawing five cards from his Player Deck to form a new hand.
If after drawing his cards, the Player is not satisfied with his new hand, he may discard those cards and draw another four cards instead. If still not satisfied he may discard and draw three cards, which he must keep. When his Player Deck is depleted, he then shuffles his Discard Pile into a new Player Deck.
If at the start of a Player's turn his Hero is the only Unit in his Legion, he may fully heal it for no cost in Gold or actions.
If at the start of a Player's turn, a player has no Hero, due to it having been previously eliminated, he puts his current hand and Player Deck into the Discard Pile. He chooses one third of the cards (rounded up) in his Discard Pile as his new Hand, which must include his Hero card. The remaining cards in the Discard Pile are shuffled and become the Player's Deck. The number of cards selected is the number of actions he may use for this turn only. The Player must place his Hero in the Legion as a free action on this turn.
Each of the actions below costs one action point:
- Draw a card from the Player Deck.
- Play an eligible Spell Card "out of combat". This is not considered an "attack" in any way, even though it may cause wounds.
- Heal wounds of any Units of the Player's Legion by one wound for every Gold Point spent. Gold is spent, either by discarding cards in the Player's hand for their Gold, or by spending Gold given by a Unit Card located in the Player's Legion.
- Place from the Player's hand into his Legion one Henchmen or Army Unit. Specials for those Units are immediately available.
- Attach one Armor, Weapon, or Aura Card from the Player's hand to one of the Units in his Legion. A Unit may only have one of each type.
- From the Player's hand, swap one Henchmen or Equipment Card with a corresponding Henchmen or Equipment Card in his Legion.
- Move or swap one attached Armor, Weapon, or Aura from one Unit in the Player's Legion to another.
- Pick up any one card (except the Hero) from the Player's Legion and return it to his Hand. A Unit may not be picked up until all of its attached cards are also picked up, each costing one action point.
- Attack any face up Monster or Player's Legion. Only one attack per Player turn is allowed. See Combat section.
Buying Cards: Cards may be purchased anytime, except in combat, during the Player's turn. The twelve cards on the table from the Equipment, Spell, and Unit Decks are available to be purchased by discarding cards in the Player's hand for their Gold, or by spending Gold given by a Unit Card in their Legion that total up to the Cost of the card. Buying cards is not considered an action. Monsters can not be bought, Monsters may only be attacked. When a card is bought, it immediately goes into the Player's Discard Pile, along with the cards that were used for their Gold to buy the card. When a card is purchased, immediately replace it with a card from its deck.
COMBAT
Players may only attack once per turn. Players may either attack a Monster or another Player's Legion. Be careful that when modifying the listed Attack or Defense values of Units or Heroes, you add in any attached Equipment Attack or Defense bonuses after such modifiers (i.e., double the listed values first, and then add in the Equipment values).
Attacking Monsters:
Step 1: Declare which of the four available Monsters is being attacked.
Step 2: Play any Mercenaries Units from the Player's hand.
Step 3: Play up to one Spell Card per Unit in the Player's Legion.
Step 4: Total the Attack values of all of the Units in the Player's Legion, including all attached Equipment Cards and Spells being used. If the total Attack value does not equal or exceed the Monster's Health the attack fails and the Monster is returned to the bottom of the Monster Deck. Immediately replace it with another Monster. Place any Mercenaries and played Spell Cards in the Player's Discard Pile. The combat is ended. Otherwise the Monster is defeated and play proceeds to Step 5.
Step 5: Total the Defense values of all of the Units in the Player's Legion, including all attached Equipment Cards and Spells being used. Subtract this total from the Monster's Attack value. Any positive number results in the number of wounds that must be distributed among the Unit's or Hero of the Player's Legion. Place the appropriate wound cards underneath the affected Units or Hero, or eliminate them, putting them in the Player's Discard Pile to equal the wounds inflicted. Heroes must be the last to be eliminated.
Step 6: If the Monster is defeated then the listed reward is taken and the Monster is placed in the Player's Loot Pile, its Trophy Value to be added to the Player's total Victory Points.
Step 7: The Player will lose Prestige from his Loot Pile for any of his Units eliminated in combat. Three points for each Army; four points for each Henchman, and five points for the Hero. If the Player doesn't have any Prestige Points in his Loot Pile, he will lose his choice of one Monster Card from his Loot Pile, which is returned to the box.
Step 8: Place any Mercenaries and played Spell Cards in the Player's Discard Pile.
Attacking other Player Legions:
Step 1: Declare which eligible Player's Legion is being attacked. That defending player draws up to a hand of five if he holds less than five cards. Unit Cards in his Legion may grant him additional cards to be drawn in combat. Once a player is attacked he is not eligible to be attacked again by any Player until after his next turn. The Attacking Player receives one Prestige Point and places the one Prestige Point card in his Loot Pile.
Step 2: The Attacking and Defending players alternate playing Spell and Mercenary Cards. They may pass instead. Playing cards ends when both players have passed in succession. Each Player may only play as many Spell cards as the number of Units in his Legion.
Step 3: Total the Attack values of all of the Units in the each Player's Legion, including all attached Equipment Cards and Spells being used.
Step 4: Total the Defense values of all of the Units in each Player's Legion, including all attached Equipment Cards and Spells being used.
Step 5: Subtract the Defense totals from the opposing player's Attack values. Any positive numbers result in the number of wounds that must be distributed among the Units or Hero of that Player's Legion by the owning Player. Place the appropriate Wound cards underneath the affected Units or Hero, or eliminate them, putting them in the Player's Discard Pile to equal the wounds inflicted. Heroes must be the last to be eliminated.
Step 6: Players are awarded Prestige for every opposing Player's Unit or Hero eliminated: three prestige points for each Army; four points for each Henchman; and five points for a Hero. Select the correct number of Prestige Point cards and place them appropriately in each Player's Loot Pile.
Step 7: Place any Mercenaries and played Spell Cards in the Player's Discard Pile.
Ending and Winning the Game
If the Monster deck is exhausted, the game ends instantly and Player Victory Points are counted. The game also ends when a certain amount of Prestige has been accumulated in any Player's Loot Pile, as follows:
- 2-4 Player Game: 15 Prestige Points
- 5-6 Player Game: 20 Prestige Points
Each Player receives one Victory Point for every Prestige Point and Trophy Value in his Loot Pile, Player Deck, Discard Pile, and Legion. The winner is the Player with the most Victory Points. A tie is broken by the Player who has the most Prestige.